Future Research Directions
1. Experiencing the world
PARTIAL REALITY
Project 1.
Develop a dictionary for colors that are beyond the range of human detection but are perceived by other organisms. What kind of nomenclature system would one use to develop color dictionary, beyond the human range of detection? Would such an activity be useful? Would an abstract color dictionary have any use case?
Project 2.
Design a future version of the human eye that’s as sharp as eagle’s eye. How many molecular and tissue level alterations would be required to develop such a device? What would be the effect of high resolution imagery on the human mind? Would it require prior training with a new pattern recognition algorithm?
Project 3.
Create a technology to bypass inner ear and deliver sound waves in a biological format directly to the auditory nerve. This will help people with hearing defects due to inner ear malformations. What would be the best case scenarios?
Project 4.
What would be the short and long-term effect of skin ointments on symbiotically living microbes and human health? Does prolonged use of skin ointments result in change in microbial population and sensitivity levels? What is the effect of skin creams, lotion and oils on human skin cell receptors?
Project 5.
Reports indicate that human olfactory sense is slowly fading. What is the reason for such an evolutionary change? What would be effect of decreased smell sensitivity on human behavior? What remedial measures would you recommend?
Project 6.
Build a population model of Taste Bud Associations (TBA). Do you see conservation of taste regions and sharp taste bud boundaries across various age groups and cultures? What kind of molecular changes the tongue did go through?
VIRTUAL REALITY
Project 7.
Review dream interpretation dictionaries across the world and create an integrated version that’s based on verifiable assumptions and is evidence based.
Project 8.
Find the population distribution of people who view dreams in color and b/w, and those who do not dream at all.
Project 9.
Can one engineer dream towards a predetermined output?
ABSOLUTE REALITY
Project 10.
How many periodic table elements were used to create humans? Did habitats play a role in designing a particular cellular soup?
Project 11.
Given that an atom is 99.9% space, how do ‘spaces’ pile upon each other to organisms with distinct boundaries?
Project 12.
If we subtract air, dust particles and all the wave elements from the space, how would one describe the space itself?
Project 13.
If an object is moved fast enough, it turns into energy (Einstein’s equation). Can one ‘slow down’ energy to create a physical object?
Project 14.
What is the composition of life energy? Build ‘beyond-matter’tools that would help bring soul / spirit into an analytical domain?
Project 15.
Given that life energy is a wave, where would you place on the electromagnetic wave spectrum and why?
2. Molecular basis of behavior
MUSICALITY
Project 1.
What does a musical genotype look like?
Project 2.
Are genomic signatures of musicality heritable?
Project 3.
Can one engineer a genome to enhance or lower the sense of musicality?
Project 4.
Given that we are essentially sound waves, does our core composition
ANGER
Project 5.
Draw a human brain map localizing the following behavioral states i.e., calm, irritation, anger, rage, and violence, vis-a-vis gray matter volume
Project 6.
Is there any correlation between genomic composition and insular connectivity of the brain?
Project 7.
Build an integrated molecular pathway of an emotional human brain
ADDICTION
Project 8.
Do addiction and de-addiction have a genetic basis?
Project 9.
What makes some people addiction-proof while others fall into the trap of temptations?
Project 10.
Build a Karyotype of human emotions, highlighting a range of states?
Project 11.
Develop an ‘addicted brain model’ that integrates psychogenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data correlating it with specific anatomical substructures.
DEPRESSION
Project 12.
How does a normal, vulnerable, and depression-induced brain look, in terms of molecular composition, anatomical sites, and geographic variations?
Project 13.
Why does a person feel more relaxed with music? Draw out pathways connecting musicality with depression?
Project 14.
How does sunshine impact neural mechanisms leading to changes in behavioral outcomes?
LOVE
Project 15.
The concept and commitment of lifelong love have decreased in the modern world. Does neurological wiring determine long-term love versus transient gratification?
Project 16.
Which neurological changes are required to move love from physical to cosmic?
LANGUAGE
Project 17.
How much genomic investment is culture driven?
Project 18.
Does genetics and epigenetics determine the language learning ability of a person?
Project 19.
Is it possible to draw an evolutionary divergence tree-based on language complexities?
MEMORY
Project 20.
How do five sensory ports of the body convert environmental data into a biological format?
Project 21.
Does the brain use a compression algorithm to integrate incoming data with space, time, and emotions?
Project 22.
What are biological mechanisms that operate on memories known to be transferred and unfolded from one birth to another?
Project 23.
Can technology help selectively purge memories and improve the quality of life in people with traumatic experiences?
3. Environment induced behaviors
Project 1.
Do emotions like happiness, love, gloom, and anger affect the formation of water structures? Design experiments to study the impact of thoughts on water structures.
Project 2.
Traditional wisdom indicates that water gets purified in contact with copper and earthen vessels. Does purification refer to microbial growth, metallic contamination, water structures, or something else?
Project 3.
Develop a technology to calculate the vital force of foods (prana) and add these signatures to calories to develop a new metrics food quality
Project 4.
Observe the effect of food on the clinical and biochemical parameters, memory, and sharpness of the mind. Categorize the food based on the effect of the trend observed.
Project 5.
Develop an AI-based model for the effective management of people with inborn genetic defects.
4. Future human behaviors
Project 1.
Expansion of space is resulting in drifting away from planets, satellites, and stars. This will have a significant impact on the fundamental forces sustaining the planet. Model human anatomical, physiological and behavioral changes that are likely to occur over a certain cosmic timeline.
Project 2.
How are sunspots calculated and predicted in advance? What will be the impact of sunspots on life on this planet? What kind of preparedness (psychological to technological) is needed to ensure the better survival of living organisms? What kind of services would be affected most?
Project 3.
Which jobs are likely to disappear and arrive in the next 10 years and why? Assuming that technological advancements to replace repetitive jobs are getting realistic, what kind of policy interventions would be required for its optimal diffusion in a society? What kind of boundary conditions would be required to ensure that people stay motivated, societies vibrant and economy healthy even if AI driven technologies replace a lot of human jobs.
Project 4.
What would happen if our senses were both inbound and outbound i.e., they perceive data internal and external to the body? What kind of information transfer and storage mechanisms would need to be invented to accommodate new data transfer pathways? What would be the psychological effect of inhound and outbound information traffic on human mind?
Project 5.
Are exoBrain and psychosurgery merely science fiction or are we likely to see technologies emerging for public use? What kind of data would be best suited for exoBrain attachment? Would psychosurgery be suited for erasing transient or deep seated memory ? What kind of fundamental science discoveries would be necessary for psychosurgery to be successful? Would psychosurgery also result in unintended side effects?
Project 6.
In the next 10 years what would be the technological impact on human emotions and abilities? What would be impact of emotional deterioration on the value system - from individual to the societal level. Perform a foresight study that integrates inputs from technology, society, economy, and sustainability.
Here are some key ideas that may evolve into future research projects